Matt Mitrione Views Andrei Arlovski As ‘The Next Step’
Matt Mitrione recently picked up his second straight knockout win when he smashed formerly rising contender Derrick Lewis at September 5’s UFC Fight Night 50 from Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut.
After dismantling Shawn Jordan at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) China Finale earlier this year, “Meathead” took a big chance taking on “The Black Beast,” and he wants to be fairly compensated for doing so. Mitrione told UFC Tonight’s Ariel Helwani that he wants a big fight next, and he wants it against another heavyweight who just picked up a big win:
“He told me that he has a lot of respect for Andrei Arlovski, but he feels that that’s the fight that makes most sense for him next. He says look, ‘ I was under the impression if I took the Derrick Lewis fight, I took one for the team, I took a step back in my career, I’d get a big fight. I’ve yet to be able to able to not really call someone out, but got to call my shot so to speak.’
He doesn’t want to call out Arlovski because he has a lot of respect for him, but he says ‘this is the necessary step that I need to take, and I’m ready to make a run in my career.’ So he’s hoping to get that fight.”
Mitrione isn’t the only heavyweight to call out for a fight with the resurgent “Pitbull,” who knocked out former title challenger Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the main event of last Saturday’s (September 13, 2014) UFC Fight Night 51 from Brasilia, Brazil.
No. 10-ranked “Big” Ben Rothwell just named Arlovski as one of his top three wanted opponents, but Helwani delivered some news that could mean that both will have to wait for a chance to fight him:
“Speaking of Arlovski, he has an X-ray scheduled for later on this week to check out his wrist. It may be broken his manager tells me; they’re not sure just yet. If it is, he might be out for quite some time, but right now, they’re not sure if it’s a bruise or a break.”
“Meathead” still isn’t on the heavyweight Top 15 rankings despite having won three of his past four UFC bouts. He’s struggled with inconsistency, and if he could notch a big name win by finishing someone like Arlovski, he’d no doubt be headed for a rise up the suddenly active heavyweight ranks.
With several powerful fighters calling out “The Pitbull,” do you want to see him fight either one? Or should he face off with the winner of this Saturday’s (September 20, 2014) UFC Fight Night 52 main event between Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson?
